Paradise

This past week has left me speechless- hence the delay in blogging. I moved in with the Magers Sunday evening. It was a short drive from Encinitas. That morning I got in an awesome run at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Course, then dropped Blake off at the airport (he had to cut the trip short due to a family thing), met with my coach, got in a quick swim at the YMCA, and finally went over to the Mayer's house (whom I stayed with all last summer) to catch up with Kristin for a bit.
Anyway, when I finally got to Mission Viejo I was exhausted! The adrenaline from the whole drive up here and the excitement mellowed down and I needed a bed asap. I was greeted at the door by Anne Marie- the youngest of the two kids. The boy, Michael, was over at a friends. By the time I unpacked and we winded down for bedtime, I had met the whole family, minus Scott, the father, as he was working late, and we clicked right away.
The children are absolutely wonderful! They are living proof that a loving household, and a super healthy/active lifestyle yields very well behaved kids. As the Magers are uber health conscious and experts in their field of nutrition/holistic medicine, I am having the greatest time expanding my knowledge, sharing recipes, and applying it toward perfect recovery from training/racing.
About Mission Viejo (the palce itself)- OMG!!! It's like Colorado or Montana mixed with palm trees and typical SoCal perfect weather. The house is practically on top of a mountain, ok not a mountain, but the street to get into the community I have to walk as a cool down home and that's a workout in itself.
I cannot get enough of the hills. The riding is unbelievable. Very little traffic compared to Encinitas/SD area, nevermind Dallas or Texas in general ha, and beautiful landscapes.
Yesterday I rode out from the house to Santiago Canyon, and the views made me think I was in the Tour de France. I only went up like 2mi and then back home for just under 2hrs. Oh, and the running- wow, the parks here are gorgeous, and there's a lake a little over 3 miles around right down the hill from the house and some sweet trails. Ahh I could just go on and on. Last thing to boast about- MVN masters rocks! I've only been going every other day this wk as my schedule right now is pretty mellow but soon enough that pool will be like my second home :D
K well I gotta go get my run in for today. Tomorrow's the SoCal Half Marathon! It will be a good benchmark to see where my run fitness stands and progress from there.
Cheers